Friday, May 4

Take that, you giganti-german!Last night, the Warriors pushed through the Jelly Donut Mavs (that is, sugary-sweet on the outside and soft in the middle) with a classic gut-it-out performance from Baron and a "Nut up, it's the playoffs!" performance by the completely and utterly insane Stephen Jackson. The Mavs wilted under a constant barrage of momentum-changing threes highlighted by cutters slicing through the lane for quick strikes. All of this was amplified by the crushing weight of expectations and the unrelenting energy supplied by the Oakland crowd.

Honestly, the game was over once the Warriors jumped out to the early lead. There's no way that crowd was going to let them lose after that. Let me amend that-- given that Baron Davis came back into the game (no matter how solid Monta Ellis looked, he's no Baron) and was working at 70%, the game was over very early on. The combative crowd combined with the aforementioned Jelly Donut mental makeup of the Cuban constructed Mavericks sealed the deal.

It is interesting to watch Mavs games because their coach, Avery Johnson, was one of the most intense players in the league during his run. He never backed down, always pushed his teammates and willed himself to make the right plays on O and D. Perhaps the reason the Mavs are so weak between the ears is because they're relying on their coach to provide that same tenacity and toughness. Unfortunately for them, it doesn't work that way. That needs to come from a player on the floor. That player's got to push the team to new heights and never accept defeat. He's got to cajole them when the coach can't reach them. He's got to set the example to follow.

Anyway, the Mavs kept looking for someone to lead them, and no one stepped up. Stackhouse made a valiant effort (if you haven't figure it out, I'm a big Stack fan) but he's a bit long in the tooth to a put a team on his back for a full game.

Did the leg circuit tonight in anticipation of practice tomorrow. Gotta work on your day-to-day recovery time from training just like you work on everything else.--Workout Total:Leg Circuit (20 minutes)Core Workout (20 minutes)